Chester Bennington’s mother, Susan Eubanks, has expressed her feelings about co-vocalist Emily Armstrong joining Linkin Park.
In an interview with *Rolling Stone*, Eubanks shared that she feels “betrayed” by the band’s decision to move forward with the Dead Sara singer, Armstrong, 38, following her son’s death by suicide in 2017.
She explained that she found out Armstrong had joined the band through a Google search.
Eubanks recalled co-vocalist Mike Shinoda telling her two years ago that he “promised” to keep Bennington’s family informed about any future developments with Linkin Park.
“I feel betrayed,” Eubanks said. “They told me that if they were ever going to do something, they would let me know. They didn’t let me know, and they probably knew that I wouldn’t be happy. I’m very upset about it.”
Eubanks went on to say she feels as though the band is trying to “erase the past” by performing songs that her son, Chester, once sang.
“I don’t know how the fans are taking it, but I know how I take it,” she said. “And having [Armstrong] sing my son’s songs is hurtful.”
She emphasized that leaving her and her family out of the discussions about the band’s new direction was the “wrong way” to handle it.
Speaking about Armstrong, Eubanks added: “Don’t put her out there to sing Chester’s songs and then act like this was always the way it should have been. It feels like they’re making him disappear, erasing the past.
Now they can just release new songs without having to go through old Chester tracks. But don’t put Chester’s songs out there with Emily singing them.”
During Linkin Park’s *From Zero World Tour* kickoff at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Sept. 10, Shinoda, 47, addressed the band’s intentions to the crowd.
“This is not about erasing the past,” he said. “It’s about starting a new chapter for the future and coming out here for every single one of you.”
Eubanks isn’t the only family member who has voiced concern over the changes in Linkin Park.
On Sept. 8, Bennington’s son Jamie criticized the band in a series of since-deleted Instagram Stories, which were viewed.
He expressed his frustration with the decision to hire Armstrong, accusing Linkin Park of failing to “address the concerns of their diverse fan base” and claiming they had “betrayed the trust” of fans who “trusted you to be the bigger, better person. To be the change. Because you promised us that was your intention.”
Jamie also described the band as “tone-deaf” and further accused Shinoda of “quietly erasing my father’s life and legacy in real time… during international suicide prevention month.”
